Secret Ingredient Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ok, so I guess if I tell you the secret ingredient, it's hardly a secret anymore.  BUT, when people taste your amazing cookies, they'll say, "Wow!  These are really good!  What did you put in them?" you can respond, "My secret ingredient."

Well, I needed something special for my tired guy after a long day of work, so this is the result.

SECRET INGREDIENT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
[Adapted from the Choc. Chip Cookie recipe in the 1973 ed. of the Good Housekeeping Cookbook]

Ingredients:
1 1/4 c. unbleached, all-purpose flour  [scoop and level w/ a knife, don't spoon it into the measuring cup]
1/3-1/2 c. packed light brown sugar [I like mine a little less sweet]
1/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter softened [1 stick; you should be able to press your finger in it easily, but it shouldn't be practically melted]
1/2 t. baking soda [w/o aluminum]
1/2 t. sea salt
1 dash nutmeg [seriously, just a small dash; secret ingredient #1]
1 large egg [organic, for in case when you decide to eat the dough]
1 t. almond extract [your secret ingredient #2! Imitation extract doesn't cut it]
1/4 t. vanilla extract
6 oz. [or 1 c.] semi-sweet chocolate pieces [my favorite are the Ghirardelli dark choc. chunks, but in the picture I used mini-chips b/c they were in the pantry today]

What 2 Do:
Preheat the over to 375 F. and grease your cookie sheets.

In a large bowl, measure all your dry ingredients and mix with a fork.

Lightly beat your egg with the extracts.

Beat the dry ingredients, butter, and wet ingredients (egg mixture) together in a mixer on medium, just until blended and clumped.

Add your chocolate chips and mix on low for a few seconds until they are generally distributed through the dough.

Loosely form 1' balls with a spoon and your hands.  Smash them a bit.  And space them a couple inches apart on your cookie sheet.  [If you have more than one sheet worth, keep dough cold in the fridge before putting it in the oven--warm oils = flat cookies.]

Bake 10-12 min. until lightly browned on edges.  It's ok if they're still a tad light in the center.

Remove from oven, let sit for a couple minutes, remove with a spatula onto wire racks, and try to wait until they're not molten chocolate before you devour them with a creamy glass of milk.

This should make about 2 doz. 2' diameter cookies (bit thick and chewy but not soggy!)  It will make fewer if you ate a spoonful (or two) of dough like I did . . .